Jolemai's Blog of WIPs, Battle Reports and Musings

[Jolemai]

This is what we were teased with:

Apparently the top four boxes each contain one RoB tile - crashed Thunderhawk, Imperial Strongpoint, Castellan Stronghold and Primus Redoubt. The bottom boxes contain in total sixteen Zone Mortalis tiles. Each tile is 1' x 1', so it's enough to make a 4' x 4' satellite board for the Apocalypse game. Also, this purchase has "cleared him out" which implies no Warlord this year. Phew.

So in total, we're playing on a 12' x 6' board, with two 4' x 4' satellite boards (the overland one is the manufactorum board(s) from FW).

... and I'm still on course to run 12k of Blood Angels The biggest problem is trying to get my hands on a copy of the old Warzone Damocles book for the Armoured Vanguard Formation...

[Charlo]

Oh my lord that sounds ace.

 

All you need now is a BFG game going on trying to control the space.

 

... But the zone Mortalis battle is happening on two of those ships, and the outcomes of all of those influence the 40k game! Read: more Lance strikes.

[Father Mapple]

Zone mortalis is tons of fun. We don't have forge world boards, but we use

Styrofoam hills that have straight sides and pretend it's underground, tunnels, out caverns. That way a super dense board with no line of sight over 2 feet is easy to arrange but still gives us the maze-iness feeling. Call it a space hulk that hit a planetoid it an ork rok ship. I'm on my way to assembly of a city fight/ urban zone mortalis board myself because I love the rules and 1000 or smaller games so much. Great way to get an allied forces that's infantry heavy done. I'm planning on using my betrayal at calth models to be a 30k zone mortalis force.

[evildrcheese]

That's an amazing supply drop.

 

My red armour looks green in this light...

 

EDC

[Jolemai]

Blood Angels Vs Eldar - 2000 points

Army Lists

Blood Angels

Flesh Tearers Strike Force – Gain Rage on a charge roll of 10+; re-roll Flesh Tearers Warlord traits

Furioso Librarian Dreadnought (FLD) - Malefic, Warlord

Tactical Squad

Assault Squad (RAS) in Drop Pod

Predator Destructor in "Autolas" configuration

Vindicator

Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer

Relic Sicaran Battle Tank

Flesh Tearers Strike Force

Techmarine

Scout Squad

Bike Squadron (with Attack Bike)

Stormraven Gunship

Land Raider Redeemer

Whirlwind

List discussion for Strike Force Halloween.

Eldar

Craftworld Warhost – Run moves are automatically rolls of six

Guardian Battlehost – Free support weapons; Vypers, War Walkers and Vaul’s Wrath Support Weapons gain preferred Enemy against units within 12” of Guardians.

Farseer - Runes of Fate, Warlord

3 x Squad of Guardians

1 x Squad of War Walkers (WW)

1 x Squad of Vaul’s Wrath – Warlock (Runes of Battle) (VW)

1 x Squad of Vyper Jetbikes

Wraith Host – Wraith units can Battle Focus (i.e. shoot and Run like living Eldar); re-roll failed To Hit rolls if within 18” of a Spirit Seer

Spirit Seer (Runes of Battle)

3 x Wraithguard

1 x Wraithlord (WL)

Wraithknight (WK)

Deployment

Mission: Cleanse and Control

Setup: Dawn of War

The board is a Realm of Battle board with six tiles of the order:

ABC

DEF

In the centre of the board is an inactive Skyshield Landing Pad (SLP). At the external corners of A -D is a hill, whilst there is also a hill running between the boarder of A - B and C - F. On the edge of Tile C is a Bastion (B1), while there is a second one on the edge of Tile D (B2). Tile F has a ruin and there is a crashed Imperial Lander (IL) on the A-D hill. Cover is 4+ all round.

Objective 4 is placed north of the SLP in Tile B by a barricade, while Objective 1 is similarly placed to the south of the SLP in Tile E. Objective 5 sits near B1 and Objective 6 sits near Tile F’s ruin. Objective 2 sits in the centre of Tile A and Objective 3 sits amongst the IL wreckage. Mysterious Objectives are in play.

In addition to Force, the Furioso Librarian Dreadnought (FLD) rolls on Daemonology: Malefic gaining Incursion and Cursed Earth to complement Summoning. The Farseer rolled on the Runes of Fate table rolling Doom, Fortune and Eldritch Storm to compliment Guide. The Spirit Seer rolled on the Runes of Battle gaining Destructor/Renewer and Protect/Jinx to compliment Conceal/Reveal. The Warlock gained Destructor/Renewer from the Runes of Battle table to pair with Conceal/Reveal.

The FLD’s Warlord Trait was Speed of the Primarch (+1 INT); whilst the Farseer’s trait was Fate’s Messenger (re-roll 1s on saves.).

With the battle being fought during the day and the Eldar player winning the roll off, they decide to deploy first in a long, thin battle line on the DEF side of the board. The first Guardian squad (G1) deploy in Tile F’s ruin on the ground floor, where they are joined by the Warlock and three members of Vaul Wrath who take a floor each. This reveals Objective 6 to be a Grav-wave Generator. The first squad of Wraithguard (WG1) deploys adjacent to them and the second Guardian squad (G2) is next in line, sitting in the centre of Tile E. This reveals Objective 1 to be a Targeting Array. Behind them stands the WK. The Farseer takes up residence within the second squad of Wraithguard (WG2) and the War Walkers are behind them, who are flanking B2. The third squad of Guardians (G3) sits atop B2 and adjacent to them is the third squad of Wraithguard (WG3) who have the Spirit Seer with them. Lastly, the lone Wraithlord takes up the far flank in Tile D and the Vypers sit in Reserve.

Seeing this, the Drop Pod (with RAS cargo) and the Stormraven (with Scouts, Techmarine and FLD) start in Reserve. The Cerberus deploys in the corner of Tile C with the Redeemer next to it (Tactical are inside). Deploying here reveals Objective 4 to be a Skyfire Nexus. In the space behind, the Whirlwind sits out of sight. In Tile B, the Vindicator and Predator sit in cover with the Sicaran behind them. The Bikes are out of sight behind the Bastion.

The Blood Angels fail to Seize the Initiative and the Eldar player kicks off.

Hidden Content

Turn One

Eldar

~ The following Tactical Objectives (TO) are drawn: 36 (Claim Objective 6), 42 (Behind Enemy Lines), 61 (Kingslayer)

~ The Wraithlord moves towards the IL which promptly explodes without inflicting any damage. Here it is joined by WG3. The WK moves onto the SLP with WG1 and WG2 not far behind. The WW advance to the SLP’s other flank.

~ Guide is cast on the WK, Fortune on WG2 and Protect and Conceal on WG3.

~ The WK knocks a HP off the Vindicator and shakes it, then takes a further two HPs and a sponson lascannon from the Predator. Then it retreats towards the back of the SLP. The WL advances again and explodes the Predator (First Blood), whilst WG3 move up to Objective 3 (it’s a Bomb). The WWs then unload on the Vindicator and wreck it.

~ TO 36 is turned in for 1 VP.

Blood Angels

~ TOs 21 (Claim Objective 1), 22 (Claim Objective 2) and 64 (Assassinate) are drawn

~ The Drop Pod comes in behind the WW and disgorges the RAS into short range. The Cerberus, Redeemer and Whirlwind all advance along the flank to find better firing positions. The Bikes move towards the SLP whilst the Sicaran reverses away from it.

~ The Bikes can only take 1 wound from the WK due to FnP, the RAS whiff their rolls and only wreck one WW and the Redeemer kills one VW support weapon. The Drop Pod, Cerberus’s heavy bolters and Whirlwind claim half of G2 but they hold firm.

~ TO 22 is discarded.

Eldar: 2-0 :BA

Turn Two

Eldar

~ TO 53 (No Prisoners) is drawn

~ The WK advances towards B1 and the Bikes, with WG1 heading onto the SLP. On the other side of the SLP the WW advance towards the Sicaran with WG2 in tow. WG3 move strafe off the IL whilst the WL continues its trek up the flank. G3 climb down from their Bastion and move into range of the RAS.

~ Fortune is cast on WG2, Guide is cast on the WK and Conceal is cast on the VWs.

~ WG1 Battle Focus towards the Redeemer and explode it. The Explosion slays the heavy flamer from the Tactical Squad and then pins the rest of them in place. WG2 Battle Focus towards the bikes but can only vaporise the Sergeant while G3 annihilate the RAS and hop back onto the roof of their Bastion. G2 move away from the Drop Pod to enable WG3 to explode it, but they still lose one of their number. The WK fires both its heavy wraithcannons at the Cerberus causing catastrophic damage and its secondary weapons knock a wound off a nearby Attack Bike. Finally G1 strip a HP from the Whirlwind.

~ The Wraithknight easily dispatches Bikes and consolidates into the BA deployment zone.

~ TO 42 is cashed in for 1 VP while 53 is cashed in for 2 VP.

Blood Angels

~ TO 46 (Dominion) is drawn

~ The Stormraven arrives and makes a beeline towards the Wraithknight while the Whirlwind retreats from the encroaching WG1.

~ The Stormraven only manages to knock a single wound off the Wraithknight. The Sicaran takes a single HP off the WWs and Stuns the lead one, while the Whirlwind frags a single support weapon from the VW squad.

~ To 46 is discarded.

Eldar: 5-0 :BA

Turn Three

Eldar

~ TOs E11 (Legacy of Sorrow) and 43 (Hold The Line) are drawn

~ The Vypers arrive behind G1, the WK moves back onto the SLP and the rest of the Eldar force shuffle around into better positions.

~ Renewer is cast on the WK, Fortune is cast on WG2 and Guide is cast on G3.

~ Thanks to Wraithsight, WG2 hit and explode the Stormraven. The explosion kills three Scouts, the Techmarine and causes a penetrating hit on the FLD which in turn explodes (Slay the Warlord) 0.o The WK promptly wrecks the Sicaran and the WWs kill the remaining Scouts. Mass small arms fire reduces the Tactical Squad to one.

~ TOs 11 and 43 are cashed in for 1 VP apiece, whilst 61 is cashed in for 2 VPs.

Blood Angels

~ With a single Tactical Marine Sergeant remaining, the Blood Angels concede defeat.

[CaptainHelion]

Ooof, that's rough. How'd you think it went?

[Jolemai]

Ooof, that's rough. How'd you think it went?

 

It was one of those games, summed up by my Stormraven getting popped. I ummed and arred over what psychic discipline to roll on and gambled on full Malefic. Typically I instantly regretted not splitting my rolls on between Malefic and Sanguinary (wanted to try to the FLD-Summoning theory. Should have kept it simple with Summoning and Quickening), but this was offset by rolling Speed of the Primarch on the Warlord table. In the end it didn't matter as I didn't get to try the theory out. My deployment was pre-planned but looking at it I should have either castled up on the one flank or put the Predator, Sicaran and Vindicator in Reserve.

 

Other that that, there was really nothing I could do. I incorrectly anticipated his list (not that I had tailored for it) and quite possibly underestimated it. Especially FnP on the Wraithknight - it would have been gone without that. As usual my Meltacide were underwhelming (obviously I need to stop targetting things with shields), my Sicaran with Tank Hunter probably should have gone for the War Walkers sooner (WK T1, WW T2) and I did wonder if I should have given it Monster Hunter instead. The Stormraven underwhelmed even with Monster Hunter due to FnP, as did the grav-bikes.

 

Oh, and as much as I love my Cerberus, in regular games I think it needs to be a Typhon

[CaptainHelion]

Yeah, it looked like one of those games. Too much of everything all at once.

[Jolemai]

RTS update:

To be ready for my group's Apocalypse game in February a model needs to be considered battle ready (three base colours and based). Therefore, all these need to be ready is for the base to be painted (black ink -> splodge dark grey -> drybrush light grey -> green rims) , but I'll also be finishing off the other base colours (brown and yellow) and hopefully inking the recesses of the models before the RTS is complete.

Basically, once battle ready I can consider my vow complete. (Just like I did with my ETL vows...)

[Jolemai]

Apoc update:

Small update folks, this is how we settled on the boards:

So far, we're looking at 28k per side. Formations (Apoc and regular), SHVs and GMCs will start on the main board. Detachments will start on the overland subsidiary boards. Detachments can move onto the main board via a zonein from the ZM board, via flight from a subsidiary board or by starting in Reserve and arriving after a Scheduled break.

All three satellite boards will have objectives to hold in order to fire the guns on the main board. (As well as the Primus Redoubt there are things like macro cannons, vortex missiles, plasma). Things like Basilisks can still fire across to the overland zones... The zm board will still be in double time but we may tweak the zm rules to fit the event. I do wonder though, would this be two movement phases, etc per player turn or would we both get to move, etc in each player turn?

People obviously want to take everything from their collections that fits the criteria for the game; for example I'm taking 12k of Blood Angels and associated Imperial friends, but only ~ 9k or so of that comprises of Formations. The excess will start on one of the other boards and as there are a few onlookers, I/we'll just requisition one to roll dice on that board whilst we oversee it.

[Charlo]

Hot Damn that's a lot of points.

 

Do you roll the dice with a bucket into a kiddy pool? :P

[Jolemai]

RTS update:

I, Jolemai, Reclusiarch of the Blood Angels sub-forum and first of his name, rise to the challenge of From Rage to Salvation and vow to complete two Tactical Squads and one Veteran with a Chapter Banner on or before November 30th, 2015. Should I bring honour to the Blood Angels Chapter I will proudly wear the IRATUS DOMINUS badge; should I fail I will display the CARCERES IRA on my chest as a reminder of my shame.

With the aim of the RTS being to get models in your collection off the painting table, my objective was to get these blue marines - who have been that way since I acquired them ~ seventeen years ago - ready for my group's Apocalypse game in August. For this, they need to be what we call "battle ready" which simply means that they have at least three base colours and are based.

With that in mind, I am able to announce my vow is complete:

These are painted to the same level that my ETL vows were, though the lack of wash and highlights does show up more on red marines than on gold and black ones... This will get done post-Apoc but is not a requirement for now so I am "satisfied" with the result. As for the Veteran's arm, well I was in a rush this morning

[CaptainHelion]

...I need to requisition a flight to Wales.

[Jolemai]

Apoc todo list:

1. Paint Tactical Squad
2. Paint Tactical Squad
3. Paint Veteran with Banner
4. Repair and paint Predator Annihilator
5. Build and paint a DCD
6. Paint Dreadnought autocannon arms
7. Paint and attach pintle heavy bolter to Cerberus
8. Paint and attach hunter-killer missiles to pretty much everything
9. Paint TDA Librarian
10. Paint Cullexus
11. Paine Eversor
12. Paint Aegis Defense Line
13. Paint Tanglewire
14. Paint Karlaen

~ two a half months to go...

Edited December 4, 2015 by Jolemai

[CaptainHelion]

You can do it! That's totally doable.

[Jolemai]

Eleven to thirteen aren't strictly necessary but the rest are (can probably skip #5 if necessary too). Time is going to be short with sprog number 2 due at the end of the year...

[Charlo]

Congrats on the new Sprog!

 

But the battlefield is more important ;)

[Jolemai]

Apoc todo list:

• Paint Tactical Squad
• Paint Tactical Squad
• Paint Veteran with Banner
• Repair and paint Predator Annihilator
• Build and paint a DCD
• Paint Dreadnought autocannon arms
• Paint and attach pintle heavy bolter to Cerberus
• Paint and attach hunter-killer missiles to pretty much everything
• Paint TDA Librarian
• Paint Cullexus
• Paine Eversor
• Paint Aegis Defense Line
• Paint Tanglewire
• Paint Karlaen

~ two a half months to go...

All complete bar the tanglewire to my group's minimum standards. Have a week remaining to work on repairs (pictures at some point in the future...)

 

I am in command of 13203 points, of which 11538 are Blood Angels.

 

The teams are Imperial Vs xenos and heretics, set at 43k per side. Yes you read that right. This is going to be amazing.

 

And the beer has been ordered!

[Charlo]

:D the D shall be liberally thrown around, but the Angels shall weather the Storm!

[Xenith]

Great work, make sure you take an army shot when you deploy!

[Jolemai]

Will do!

[CaptainHelion]

*Heavy breathing*

[Jolemai]

A bit late but as promised, this is what a 13k army looks like (sadly there was no room for me to get it all on a single photo!). May I present 2016's Strikeforce Enville:

The Warhound belongs to one_happy_hippy and the WIP can be seen here.

Yes, I got to use this Baneblade

I'll try and get a summary up at some point.

Great work, make sure you take an army shot when you deploy!

Close enough? ;)

[Charlo]

Enville. Heheheh.

[evildrcheese]

Awesome. Really spectacular.

 

EDC